Tiger1962

Unfortunately this horrible economy has ruined our summer plans.

No, acid reflux

I agree with you, and its a shame that some instructors don't always see the real deal.

Forgot to add that I too have had a situation in the past, when during class while I was sparring with a male student, he kept making hard contact with me, yet when I would occasionally reciprocate that to HIM, he would tell me to watch my contact. If I told him to watch HIS contact, he'd ignore that. So that particular day, this was happening and I was becoming angry and frustrated because he didn't want to get hit yet he was hitting me and hard. Finally, something snapped and I charged at him with repetitive strikes and just my bad luck my instructor saw ME charging AT HIM but did not see HIM making hard contact AT ME. So, of course, I was the one who got reprimanded. Very frustrating to say the least and I was ticked off like you can't imagine. I cooled off and had a talk after class with my instructor about the issue I had with this student and my instructor said they would be more observant towards this particular person's style. Now this was a recurring situation for me. For others maybe you have had one or two instances but regardless, it is really frustrating to spar with people who are like this.

I used to be a coffee freak and I love most kinds and love the way it smells. I love anything that contains coffee. Unfortunately I have had to give it up for health reasons and now I'm a tea drinker. Once in a blue moon though, I will have one cup.

I don't like getting angry because once I do, I tend to over-analyze the situation later on. That being said, I'm no slouch and I don't put up with stuff just to avoid becoming angry. There are times and places where showing anger is unavoidable - and frustration is part of that too sometimes. I've been told I am a better sparrer when I am angry but I found that amusing because the person making that statement just assumed I was angry to begin with when I was not. Sometimes you can control your anger if you're really good with words & make yourself look like the better person. You can be really ticked off at the person and yet be so articulate in telling them off without ever raising your hands (or your voice for that matter) that it can make you feel so in control of the situation where the other person walks away stewing. I don't believe in holding in one's anger - that is unhealthy, but at the same time I don't think you should go around beating people up because they tick you off. I too try to use my anger as a motivator and I think that is a positive way of channeling it. Sometimes though one just needs to punch the bag and blow off steam or let out a stream of colorful words.

Good one. I purchased a wobble board I have been using it for many things for balance; for example doing push ups off it and of course standing on it. It helps for strengthing that all important core. ooh Wobble Boards are great! I had to use one when I was in physical therapy. One of these days I will buy one.

I'm not in favor of jumping or bouncing when sparring. I used to do it a lot before I was a dan rank and then I realized it only made me more tired and used up my energy. An assistant instructor in my old school favored that technique, but then another more experienced instructor I spoke to advised me against it. I don't think jumping or bouncing makes one more efficient at what they are doing. It burns calories but if you are looking to be lighter on your feet, jumping or bouncing is not the way to do it. Shifting from foot to foot / shuffling -- what Tallgeese explained -- that is the way I do it also.

Oops, that is the correct way to do it - I should have been clearer. Thanks

Practicing yoga is one way to improve balance. (trust me, it works) but another idea is to simply practice one legged stances (a.k.a.crane stances). Whether you are watching TV, brushing your teeth or standing at the kitchen sink, just bend your knees slightly and tuck one leg behind the other. Practice it often and soon enough your balance will improve. It worked for me.

Hello and welcome!

Hello & welcome!

I kinda believe that. My torn ligaments & tendons, etc., seem to take forever to heal.

The way I remember my forms and drills is simply by lots and lots of repetitions. The more repetitions you do, the more it becomes second nature to you. I also "do" my forms & drills in my head by visualizing them and I find this helps also. Be patient with yourself, with time & practice it will be easier and you'll remember it better.

I've never found my height to be a hindrance to doing martial arts (I'm of average height for a woman). I can kick pretty high as long as I warm up enough. Same thing with my husband who is roughly between 5'6" and 5'7" & middle aged. In fact, he kicks pretty high especially after he's warmed up & stretched out - so I really don't believe being short or of average height will make you less of a good kicker. One could say flexibility decreases with age but then there are exceptions to the rule. I never thought my kicks were anything to brag about but then I've had quite a few people tell me my kicks were high for my height. I've seen people at tournaments who were "stocky" (both male & female) and I was amazed at how flexible they were for their body type. One would assume the opposite, right? There are exceptions to every rule, however with ample time spent stretching and warming up - - - after a while I think body type might not matter.

This just about sums it up for me.

WOW ! That almost looks fake. It's amazing - would love to see it up close. I like dolphins.

I've seen the directors do demo's perhaps for entertainment purposes, but not actually compete. I agree, that would be wrong and a conflict of interest. What I have seen is judges competing in tournaments. They will judge a different division (say, the kids) and then compete in their own division.

People become martial artists or study the martial arts for different reasons. I don't know what anyone else's reasons are, but I know my own. I began it for several reasons, & one of them was not to improve my character or standing in my community. I like who I am. I am not an "evil, bad person" in society. One of the reasons I began was simply for physical fitness reasons. When you join a martial arts school, sometimes you either get pressured, cajoled, or roped into things by your instructor that you had no intention of doing such as participating in community affairs and whatnot. You might join a school with the mere intent of just learning a physical activity and then all this other stuff & strings attached comes along with it. Sometimes you comply to avoid being singled out as the rebel and sometimes you just want to say "hey, after class, I need to go home and take care of my life & my responsibilities." Not everyone has the time, desire or inclination to be a volunteer or mentor or whatever. And people should not be looked down upon for that. Some martial arts practitioners strive to be outstanding community people, that's their agenda. They want to be worshipped as "heroes". Some want to emulate their instructor almost obsessively and want to "be like their teacher" in every way possible thereby forgetting "who THEY are" as individuals. (I call these people martial arts groupies" and most of the time it's the young adults who are like this). Some think that their m.a. instructor is perfect and can do no wrong, no matter what -- they are so blinded by hero worship & naive loyalty that they fail to see that their instructor is a human being with character flaws, emotions, and makes mistakes and judgment errors just like everyone else does. If someone wants a role model, there are plenty to choose from besides martial artists. Bottom line is and this can't always be avoided, is that martial artists should not have the pressure to be all these things that society makes them out to be. We train, we learn different things, we are HUMAN; if you WANT to be a role model, a protector, bodyguard, mentor, etc. then great - but if you just want to go to class, train, learn, workout and then go home - that should be fine too. I've no desire to be the town hero or savior, or follow in my instructor's footsteps - "step by step". Being a martial artist is not the same as being President, its not any role as such that requires one to be a "perfect" person in any way, all the time, except in training and even in that, we are all constantly learning and improving in our technique. Bottom line is there should not be any pressure to be anything more than........a martial artist!

I agree. I'd rather keep it in private too

I agree $300 is way too high for a certificate and a belt regardless of what the rank is. As sensei8 said, it is NOT a down payment on a car, house or other item as such, etc. The other thing is to my knowledge the testing panel in my organization is volunteering their time and do not get paid; however, we are told any fees go towards the support, maintenance and running the "parent organization". That being the case, in my opinion, I still feel that the testing fee is too high, especially since members pay annual dues in addition to any testing fees. As far as the individuals on the testing panel, well they are all of senior ranking and its very likely you will run into the same people at every test although they rotate between divisions and groups. Sometimes lack of available volunteers make this happen even more so. You could very well get someone from your own school judging you, or someone you sparred with at a tournament, or someone you just plain ole don't care for and then "hope" they will judge you competently AND without bias.

You got charged 300 bucks to test from Blue top purple belt? No that was the fee for my first black belt (dan) testing. But even still - $300 is a lot of money - to me anyway !

$100 bucks for your testing, you say? Lucky you! You got off easy. Mine was around $300 or so. I have mixed feelings on this so I guess I can't really comment "for" or "against" board of directors testing. Except to say that I have been through it a few times myself. It has its pro's and con's.

I don't know the real reason why - this is just my guess of it all. I would hate to see the downfall of it, so I hope that I am wrong.

It's funny, sort of, because my instructor used to always tell me that he knew when I had a bad day or was angry because every technique I did was stronger, more forceful and I sparred without hesitation - meaning I didn't act as though I was afraid to hurt my partner. Hearing this always embarrassed me for some reason, I don't know why. I don't like to wear my heart on my sleeve but martial arts was always an healthy release of stress for me. Ah well.